Architect Manuelle Gautrand unveils stunning design for new Les Nouvelles Galeries in Annecy, and it's a game-changer!

The Galeries Lafayette department store building in Annecy has become an unexpected architectural landmark within the relatively homogenous town. Designed in the 1970s with no regard for its surroundings, the building has a unique history and has made its mark on collective memory. It is now listed as one of the remarkable buildings of the 20th century.

The project was ambitious for its time, with a perfectly circular double ring of car parking around the department store's square volume at its centre. The relationship with the surrounding urban space was uncertain, with the car parks set back from the streets and avoiding any relationship with the buildings that faced them.

Despite its lack of contextuality, the building has become a powerful landmark in the city and is seen as a classic piece of the 1970s and '80s heritage that must be preserved. The challenges of transforming the building included commercial factors, such as modernizing the existing areas and creating a large extension to accommodate around 40 shops and restaurants. The project also needed to be transformed into a city-centre project.

In response to these factors, the architects largely reorganized some of the existing areas, modernizing them while preserving the building's historic qualities. They also created a large extension that expanded the floor space and range offered by Galeries Lafayette, while maintaining its environmental, cultural, and social factors.

The project was green from the outset, with a desire to preserve all of the existing buildings. The architects were able to achieve BREEAM Excellent certification through renovation and extension while minimizing demolitions. Porous surfaces on the site were considerably extended, rainwater was gathered and reused for watering the green roofs, and numerous external areas were planted.

Faced with the pronounced circular forms, the architects did not dismiss them but rather embraced them by working on extended volumes that were also circular. The final perception is not of an existing 1970s building with an unrelated extension, but rather one of a unified architecture, completely redesigned and contemporary.

Overall, the transformation of the Galeries Lafayette department store building in Annecy has resulted in an alluring destination that expresses the new values of tomorrow's commerce. The building's historic qualities have been preserved while giving it new youth and innovative architecture that is contextual to its surroundings.

French architect Manuelle Gautrand has recently unveiled her latest project, the renovation and expansion of the Nouvelles Galeries department store in Annecy, France. The project involved the preservation of the existing two-storey ring-shaped car park, which served as a unifying element for the entire design.

The new design makes use of the space beneath the car park to install the entrance mall, public spaces, and facilities. Several circular volumes, varying in diameter, were added to the edges of the site, forming a constellation of delicate, crystalline satellites that blend seamlessly with the existing volumes of the car park.

The project's aim was to create a whole that is both iconic and human, without any stylistic distinction or hierarchy. The result is a magnificent department store that gives the impression of absolute modernity, blending the new with the existing.

The satellites are fully glazed, with outer facades resembling glass pleats that echo the concrete pleating surrounding the car park. The effect is almost kinetic, with a regular vertical rhythm that gives elegance and dynamism to the curving forms.

The project's facades are always luminous, day and night, with internal animation on public display, encouraging contact with the people of Annecy.

Overall, the Nouvelles Galeries department store is a stunning example of contemporary architecture, seamlessly blending old and new elements to create a whole that is both visually impressive and welcoming to the public.